The legal basis of the development of the cooperative movement in Russia in the end of the 19th - at the beginning of the 20th centuries

The peculiarities of becoming of the Russian cooperative legislation in the end of 19 th - at the beginning of the 20th centuries, its development during the First World War and the February revolution are examined in this article. The policy of the government with regard to various kinds of agricultural cooperatives is also observed. The order of opening of cooperatives, peculiarities of their internal organization and interaction with the central and local authorities, sources of financing and main directions of their activity are examined on the basis of the analysis of normative sources, archival documents and data of the periodical press of the beginning of the 20 th century.